GAA bosses step in to stop vote on removing British Army team

GAA bosses moved to prevent London GAA from voting on a motion to remove the Irish Guards from the London junior football championship.

The regiment, nicknamed ‘The Micks’, made history in September 2015 when they become the first British Army regiment allowed to field a team in a GAA Championship.

The vote on the application at the time ended in a tie, with the chair using his casting ballot to accept the new club.

Hurling club Granuaile, based in Harrow, made a motion to rescind that acceptance and it was due to be voted on last night.

But the London County Board suspended the motion following an intervention by Director General Páraic Duffy.

GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail acknowledged the organisation hierarchy had involved themselves in the issue.

“Páraic and I have had discussions on it,” Ó Fearghail told RTE.

“Páraic, in discussion with myself, we've written to the London GAA board and we've asked them not to make a decision on that until we, as a management, have a look at that.

"Because it's nothing to do with one club, it's all clubs. We've close to 2,000 clubs, if we accept a club into our association, having done that, then it shouldn't be so simple to just remove them."

The ban on members of the British armed forces and police from joining the GAA and playing Gaelic sports was lifted 14 years ago when the controversial Rule 21 was deleted.